


Addicts

by SarahWritesThings



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/M, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 00:30:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18377240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarahWritesThings/pseuds/SarahWritesThings
Summary: Tom and B'Elanna through the years. We all have our vices in life.Light trigger warning for violence and self-harm.





	1. 2368 - Tom

He felt the warmth in his body, contrasting with the tingling cold in his fingers and toes. His neck was stiff as he threw back the last of his drink, wiping his mouth on his hand and turning to survey the bar. He wasn't sure if this was the same bar he started the night in, it had all become a blur of ladies and lights.

Thinking it was best to get home before the sun rose, he began to make is way through the crowd, flashing smiles at the dancers as he passed and pausing only when the room spun with a little too much intensity. A pretty little blonde almost made him stay for another hour, but she turned away to chat with her friends, so Tom continued on his way.

The dull yellow light of the streetlamps only added to his mental haze, even with the chill bite of the night air keeping him awake. He began to walk, with no actual idea of where he was or how to get back to his shitty hotel room. Street signs passed as he wandered but Tom didn’t bother to read them.

He was addicted to the numbness, the fuzziness, to being able to forget for a moment. Arriving at a destination was too real.

It was only when he had reached the shore line that he stopped, knowing that his new home was further inland, where it was decidedly cheaper and hotel owners didn’t care as long as you payed them. Lost in thought he began to wander down the coast, finding the back street of alleys a more secluded path to keep him warm in the night air.

It was then that his eyes found the building, tall and dark but with the unmistakable sights and sounds of a wonderfully anonymous establishment. Patrons outside were laughing and sipping on glasses and Tom followed a few as they moved inside, looking for a refill.

Chez Sandríne was a little different that the bars he had left, it was a bit softer, more of a lounge than a club, and much smaller. A large pool table was the focal point of the room, where a few men were placing bets of the outcome of the game at hand. He had played many a game at that table during his academy years, but how many of the patrons would recognize him as the once-up-and-coming Starfleet cadet?

Luckily the bartender was new and didn’t give Tom a second glance as he ordered. The tall glass was passed over and Tom handed him a few small coins. What a cute little town Marseille was, still using physical money to preserve authenticity. In daylight and sobriety Tom enjoyed the atmosphere, but in this darkness it was just another barrier between him and his next drink.

Finding an empty booth along the far side of the room, Tom began to sip, taking in the dark swirling light in the room. People were talking and laughing, glasses with clinking as they were lifted and set down again, jazzy music played over the top of it all, making everything feel contained and full.

With his drink gone Tom stood to get another one and returned to his new post, thinking idle thoughts and pushing them away as fast as they rose. A second drink turned into a third, and then a forth, and it was only when Sandrine’s was almost empty that he realized that the next morning was truly about to start.

All that was left was a few patrons, the same dull music, and a drunk man wishing that the pounding would stop.


	2. 2375 – B’Elanna

She felt a sting in her ankle she stepped back on the uneven terrain. The Cardassian phaser fire was heavy, but years of leaping out of trouble taught her how to stay on her toes. She lunged behind a boulder and took a minute to catch her breath, hopefully pausing for too long wouldn’t allow her enemy to find her.

 _This damned void._ _Nothing to do, nothing to distract._

“Computer, disengage safety protocols.”

“Acknowledged.”

The glanced around the edge, they leaped out to the side, phaser raised and aimed at where the Cardassian holograms had been last, but they had moved.

She spun widely, searching for them, when arms grabbed her from behind, holding a dagger to her throat.

 “When will the Maquis learn they are no match for the Cardassian Union?”

But B’Elanna moved fast, throwing an elbow into his stomach and slamming him to the ground. His dagger slipped, dragging down her torso and leaving a gleaming line, but she didn’t care. She fired a shot into him, then moved on her way.

She was addicted to the sting, to the throb, to being alive, even for a moment.

It was just as she peered around a corner, into another large cavern when the computer beeped, and the world faded out of existence. B’Elanna groaned as she felt the phaser disappear in her hand, she hadn’t even heard the computer give her the usual five-minute warning.

She glanced around to find her uniform jacket and shrugged it back on as she made her way out of the holodeck, back into grey corridors of Voyager. They were deserted, as the crew spent most of their time in quarters, holodecks and the mess hall, wherever they could find entertainment.

It was only when she arrived in her quarters that she remembered the cut on her chest and was thankful she hadn’t passed anyone in the hallway. Blood was visible through the thin layer of her grey undershirt and underneath it the mark, angry and ugly.

The dermal regenerator needed to be charged soon, but it was strong enough to repair the broken skin. There was an odd flutter of emotions as it faded from view, but they felt distant and cold. She threw the medical device back in it’s hiding spot, then made her way back to the living room, feeling her body ripple and ache as she moved.

Every muscle in her body screamed with the weight of her mind.


	3. 2377

Their relationship had always been passionate. Full of fire and always on the edge of spilling over, whether it be into another argument or an _intimate relation_ , as Seven had described it. As long as they had known each other, each back into Tom’s brief time in the Maquis, they had been explosively drawn to each other, and when they finally made contact, it was a supernova all of its own.

In the early days of their romance they had been busy, and they had fought for every moment they could spend together, which were often far too few and far too long between. _They_ had been nights together after long days of work, quick lunches during frantic attempts to put the ship back together, and, more often either of them wanted, quiet conversations sat in sickbay, helping each other heal in more ways than one.

The crew might have been right to assume the relationship wouldn’t work out. They had been addicted to each other, desperate for each other and powerless once they had it. But they had grown together, learned peace and understanding.

Maybe marriage had tempered them a bit. There was more time together, more lazy nights in front of their television and more mornings laughing over Tom’s “famous” peanut butter toast. It was nice to enjoy each other. People had long since stopped snickering at Tom’s arrivals in Engineering, bringing food and a request for B’Elanna to take a break, even for just five minutes.

It is was in this peaceful place that they found themselves now, sat in silence, staring at their newborn daughter as she slept. She was perfect, from her ridges right down to her toes. Everyone now and again they murmured words of love and disbelief, directed at each other and at the new life they had created.

Each making vows to hold onto to this moment forever, for it seemed so incredible that either of them had arrived here, and had arrived here together.

They were in the Alpha Quadrant, ready to embrace their family, both new and old. They had survived pain and hopelessness and emptiness, and now they could push past it all.

Would it be perfect? Of course not. Tom and B’Elanna were flames and power. They would still fight and make-up and drive each other out of their minds, but they would love every moment of it.

They were addicted.


End file.
